Louis Turpin

Louis Turpin near Rye Harbour, East Sussex

Born in post-war London, the eldest son of artists living in Brixton. On leaving school Louis studied architecture before bailing out to work on a coal wharf and subsequently as a toy designer/manufacturer. He then went to art school, gaining a degree in Fine art at Falmouth Art School. Louis returned to London working in the film industry and as an architectural model maker until he moved in 1973 to Rye, East Sussex. Here he worked as an animator and started painting again, moving in an intense three month period from abstract to figurative painting. He was awarded a South East Arts Major Award and exhibited in the National Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Paintings were purchased by the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, Rye Art Gallery and the Fondation Elebor, Switzerland. In 1985 Louis started painting full-time and embarked on a continuing series of solo shows throughout the UK, and latterly in the USA. During this period he also continued to paint his distinctive portraits, has shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters and at international contemporary art fairs. His work has featured in several publications, including Anthony Huxley's 'The Painted Garden'. Louis Turpin continues to have succesful solo exhibitions in London, Bath, York, Henley-on-Thames, Rye and more recently in Greenwich Connecticut. Louis also works on commissions and has just completed work for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.